This is Ben Scow down in Washington County with Utah State University Extension.
Today, I wanted to talk about fruit trees. This is the perfect time of year to plant fruit trees. It's a really warm year, people have spring fever and we're ready to plant things. Fruit trees are a great plant to start with if you have the space.
Here's a couple things to consider when you're going to plant a fruit tree:
1. Make sure the tree has full sun.
We see a lot of trees that get planted underneath other trees, and they grow really strangely. They kind of stretch and they go towards the light. These fruit trees are almost at a lean because they are trying to get to that full sun.
So make sure that you're in an area that has full sun, getting eight to 10 hours of sunlight.
2. Make sure the depth of your hole matches the depth of your tree's pot.
You don't want to bury this tree any deeper than what it's used to. We see a lot of problems when people bury their trees too deep.
Soil gets packed around the trunk and stays moist for long periods of time, and that tree will start to rot underneath the bark because it's kept wet too long. The tree will be girdled more or less, and then start to decline.
When we go out to look at a fruit tree that's died or isn't doing so well, we usually look at the trunk and the roots first. More often than not, that's our number one problem and killer of young fruit trees.
When you're digging the hole as well, make sure it's two to three times as big as the width of the root ball, but the same depth.
3. Don't be too heavy when amending the soil.
If you want to amend the soil when you're burying the tree, you definitely can, but don't do it too heavy. We're looking at like a 20 to 80 ratio of compost or soil amendment to your native soil.
4. Be cautious about watering your tree.
We get a lot of questions on water and irrigation. When you first plant a young fruit tree, we're looking at watering them two to three times a week.
Making sure that the soil isn't saturated and wet or muddy, but doesn't get bone dry, is important. We're trying to stay in between to make sure that tree is happy.
This is Ben with Utah State University Extension. Happy planting, and enjoy spring.